Category Archives: lighting

..slightly obsessed with headlamps. Ok, I bought another petzl headlamp to replace the broken one which I have had for years The light never let me down until I decided to stand on it so I felt obligated/motivated to get another one. This one is a TIKKA xp2 and it has many newer features. Where my old one had an on switch this one has 2 light levels, flashing light, built in diffuser, red light ( to keep night vision..perfect for meteor showers and star-gazing) and it will stay on for 160 hours off of 3 AAA batteries. sweet!

and it also has a sweet LOUD whistle..A* likes that as she is always worried about coyotes…and coyotes hate whistles. Yes, it slices, it dices, it juliennes..Ronco should really think of purchasing the rights to this.

As I mentioned a couple of months ago the TV went the way of the dodo. Its gone. I actually saw a cool idea that I might implement for the TV..a felt test pattern. Saw it on a site I often visit so I may steal the idea and do it up myself on a larger scale.

seems fitting for a broken TV..but why bother keeping a broken TV?

Besides that what do we do nightly? Watch a movie on the laptop..read and when we are feeling really energetic we play a game or something..Dominion is one of our favorite games right now..an easy card game with lots of variety so every game is different and coming up with 1 strategy to win is impossible. A good way to pass the time next to a roaring fire..the coffee table and 3 hours of this = a sore back.

...its easier then it looks!

We also play some other games too..like Carcissone and the occasional game of chess. We used to play chess more but A* still has not beat me in 25 years so we don’t play as often anymore. We actually met in the chess club in junior high too. I may let her beat me this year as an early Christmas gift. I was a video game addict in a previous life and if there is one thing I miss more than anything else about limited power is the fact that I cannot stay up until 3AM in an attempt to beat an end of game boss..so board games will have to suffice. I do still play a PSP but its not the same..especially since most games skip the PSP but what can you do!

..so last night the old pak-lite got to a level that it was not really lighting anything up anymore..it WAS still lit but it was not doing much more that that..so for the porpoises of this eggsperiment I am going to say: DONE.

the final totals are in…1 pak-lite with one 9v battery was switched on and stayed on for a total of:

2,851,200 seconds or 47,520 minutes or 792 hours..which equals out to $0.0025 per hour.

…not too bad for $2 worth of batteries. I set up the new red light too..looks really great and lights up the front of my video camera. its only a trick but from anything further then 20ft it looks like a security camera that is on..so it will accomplish its task for now.

We have officially had the pak-lite lit up for over 1 month. It was rated for 600 hours on an everyday cheap 9v battery and now we are up to 756 hour of non-stop running. Neat stuff..you can get 9v batteries for next to nothing so this is going to be great. I also got my red light pak-lite in the mail yesterday so I am going to run this one too and see if there is much of a difference when using different LED’s..I got the red so I could have night vision but still see for when I do things like star-gaze or hunting snipes…and for security too. If someone is thinking of breaking into a place and they see a video security camera lit up with a red light I think that they will think that security is active..Its sort of like the movie ‘Clerks’..not the movie but an idea in that movie..If people think they are being watched they will usually follow established norms..I am hoping that the norm that they feel obligated to follow is the one where people don’t break into other peoples houses. If they decide to break established norms then I hope they break into my house ONLY to make my bed..that would be really odd and against so many norms it could blow my mind.

so the pak-lite has been going for 2.5 weeks now on one single 9v battery. 24 hours a day. it is supposedly rated for 600h..which is just under 25 days..

Truthfully I am really impressed with this little light. I keep it on all night and I can see my way around when it is totally dark..but not enought light to keep me up. It IS overpriced if you ask me but I like it..I like it so much I am literally about to log online and go buy another one with a red LED. I mean for the $2 it costs for a 9v battery I can have it on for 2-3 months at night and never need to replace it! I am going to buy a red one today since it is good to see while not ruining your night vision..perfect for lighting and also looking outside..or moving about during the night. the site if you are interested is: pak-lite
Also, I have been on a bit of an eBay binge lately too..recently bought: a new slingshot, a glass cutter for turning wine bottles into cups, 2x12v LED light strips..pretty cool..not sure what for but cool, wood hygrometer for measuring moisture levels in wood ( so I can be sure the wood is dried out for the wider planks I have for the flooring )…not to mention 3-4 gifts that will arrive in a couple of weeks for my nieces and nephews..and J* too!

reduce, reuse, recycle and now…re-abuse. Since I got rid of my 1999 Hyundai Accent we have had a car battery kicking around. I could not get rid of a half decent car battery now could I?..so I carried it with me on the move. I stuck it in my shed and half-forgot about it.

Well today I had a bright idea..a light. Duh…Powered by a battery. wow. Yes..should not be a newsflash for me..but I have been thinking about systems..not a single light..Mounts and carriers, not a single battery.but there was also a 12 v light that I got when I purchased my panels..so I hooked it all up. It was very complicated..I hooked the red wire to the red wire and the black wire to the black wire..and then there was light!

I know it took 4 months..sometimes I cannot see the forest through the trees..this is really going to simplify things..no more having to use the headlamps in the morning or to read..no more trying to locate a light when it is pitch black..and no more fancy lights…this is about as low as I want to go..actually last week was as low as I want to go..but I am NOT going back to gas laterns or flashlights to read..this whole lighting thing has been 2 step backwards and 1 step forward..it was all fine while we had the power inverter/battery..but that went kaput. Its Jan now and its dark when we leave and dark when we get home..so there is no sense in having dark WHILE we are at home is there?..NO!!!

..came home today to an odd rotten egg smell in the place. Not one to particularly like the smell of rotten eggs I closed the door and followed my nose. The good news is that this is a superquick tracking exercise..it is either food, the toilet or the portable power unit. It would be a pretty odd post to make it the food don;t ya think? Yes, it was the power inverter/battery. More specifically the battery of the pack. I bought the thing 5 years ago and I think the batteries simply have up. I drained the batteries frequently and did not always charge it in a timely fashion. So, the lights in the place when the generator now consists of candles and headlamps. I now memorize the headlamps locations..and steps from one to the other for when A* takes mine or falls to sleep when doing crosswords in the middle of the night. It does not seem to matter if I try to memorize my steps when I do have to make the trip from one location to the other..I always make it 3 steps..shuffling my feet so I don;t bang that precious little piggy and end up facing the wrong direction. I think I am reaching for the doorway and I touch the curtains of the window on the opposite side of the room. Anyway, I took the battery out and am looking for a replacement. And sleeping earlier.